Günther
- Korten, Günther
Generaloberst der Flieger. Stafchef of the Luftwaffe.
- 26-07-1898, Köln, Rheinland.
- Germany.
- 22-07-1944, bomb attack on Hitler, age 45, Wolfschanze.
München, Friedhof Bergstrasse. Plot 39.
Korten, Günther
Günther Korten, born 26-07-1898 in Cologne, was a German Generaloberst and Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He died from injuries suffered in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in July 1944. Korten was born as a son of the architect Hugo Korten (1855–1931) and his wife Marie Korten (1866–1942). At the beginning of the World War I he was a cadet in the Prussian army. He served through the war in an engineering battalion. He continued his military career after the war in the Engineers, until he was selected in 1928 to participate in the secret pilot training programme in the Soviet Union. On returning to Weimar Germany he joined the "Bildstelle Berlin". Joseph Goebbels (see Joseph Goebbels) (did you know) was next to propaganda minister also the Gauleiter of Berlin. With the rise of the nazi party started on its rearmament programme, Korten, by then a captain, formally joined the Luftwaffe of Hermann Goering (see Hermann Goering) (did you know) in 1934. He received training as a General Staff officer and served for several years in the Air Ministry. He was a Colonel and Chief of the General Staff of Luftflotte 4 stationed in Austria. At the beginning of 1940, Korten was transferred to the General Staff of the Luftflotte 3, in which he served during the Battle of France and in the Battle of Britain. On 19 July he was promoted to Major-General. In January 1941 he transferred back to the 4th Air Fleet, in order to participate in the Balkans Campaign and in the assault on the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa. 
In August 1942 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and took over the command over the Ist Fliegerkorps, which fought at the southern sector of the Eastern Front and was temporarily transferred to the "Luftwaffenkommando Don" during the Battle of Stalingrad (see Paulus) and (Seydlitz- Kurzbach). At the beginning of 1943 Korten was promoted to General and in the summer replaced Alfred Keller at Luftflotte 1. Alfred Keller died old age 91, on 11-02-1974 in Berlin.
In August 1942 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and took over the command over the Ist Fliegerkorps, which fought at the southern sector of the Eastern Front and was temporarily transferred to the "Luftwaffenkommando Don" during the Battle of Stalingrad (see Paulus) and (Seydlitz- Kurzbach). At the beginning of 1943 Korten was promoted to General and in the summer replaced Alfred Keller at Luftflotte 1. Alfred Keller died old age 91, on 11-02-1974 in Berlin.
Alfred Keller.
A few weeks later, on 25 August he accepted the position of General Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe, after the former Chief of Staff Hans Jeschonnek (see Jeschonnek) committed suicide. Korten was mortally wounded in 
the Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg during the July 20 Plot in 1944, in which Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (see Stauffenberg) attempted to assassinate Hitler (see Adolf Hitler) (did you know) with a bomb. Two days after the assassination attempt he succumbed to his injuries, age 45, on 22-07-1944, in the military hospital attached to the Führer's headquarters. Like the other military victims Rudolf Schmundt(see Schmundt) and Heinz Brandt, the bomb exploded and blew one of Brandt's legs off, 
Brandt died the next day 21-07-1944, age 37, after surgery in Rastenburg hospital and was posthumously promoted to Major General by Hitler. Originally, Korten was buried in the Tannenberg Memorial, where von Hindenburg was buried too (see Hindenburg). When the Russians arrived, his body was exhumed and buriedwith his wife Maria, in the Friedhof Bergstraße Cemetery in Steglitz, Berlin. Hindenburg became his last resting place in the church of Marburg.
the Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg during the July 20 Plot in 1944, in which Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (see Stauffenberg) attempted to assassinate Hitler (see Adolf Hitler) (did you know) with a bomb. Two days after the assassination attempt he succumbed to his injuries, age 45, on 22-07-1944, in the military hospital attached to the Führer's headquarters. Like the other military victims Rudolf Schmundt(see Schmundt) and Heinz Brandt, the bomb exploded and blew one of Brandt's legs off, Brandt died the next day 21-07-1944, age 37, after surgery in Rastenburg hospital and was posthumously promoted to Major General by Hitler. Originally, Korten was buried in the Tannenberg Memorial, where von Hindenburg was buried too (see Hindenburg). When the Russians arrived, his body was exhumed and buriedwith his wife Maria, in the Friedhof Bergstraße Cemetery in Steglitz, Berlin. Hindenburg became his last resting place in the church of Marburg.
